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Music legend Prince 'refused treatment for AIDS because he thought God would save him', according to shock US reports.

The Purple Rain singer - a Jehovah's Witness - died last week and a cause of death is yet to be confirmed.

According to the National Enquirer, Prince is alleged to have turned down medical help after being diagnosed with AIDS six months ago, saying: "God can cure me".

“He was in bad shape,” the source claimed to the newspaper, as reported by Radar Online.

“Doctors told Prince his blood count was unusually low and that his body temperature had dropped dangerously below the normal 98.6 degrees to 94 degrees.

“He was totally iron-deficient, very weak and often disoriented.

"He rarely ate and when he did, it all came right back up.”

The magazine claims the Purple Rain star was diagnosed with AIDS six months ago after contracting the HIV positive virus “in the 1990s”.

However due to his Jehovah’s Witness faith he refused medical treatment instead believing he could be cured by prayer.

“God can and will cure me,” he is alleged to have told friends.

Members of his faith are also claimed to have told him to ignore it, saying to the singer he had “everlasting life”.

According to the Enquirer the disease saw him lose more than five stone in weight with the source telling them: “His face was yellowish, the skin on his neck was hanging off and the tips of his fingers were a brownish-yellow.”

A day after his death Prince, 57, was cremated in a private ceremony attended by only three family members including his sister Tyka Nelson, 55.

The claims of Prince suffering from AIDS came as the Mirror learnt he was forced to return to touring in order to boost his finances after it was discovered his spending outstripped his income.

Despite his work being valued at more than £150 million he is said to have suffered "chronic money problems” for years before his death.

The star’s refusal to allow the rights to music and back catalogue to be sold placed an immense strain on his finances, sources close the singer have claimed.